please help!! always lightheaded etc..do I have anxiety?

[kjm85]

Hi all, hoping someone can help me!

I'm a 25yr old female and for the last 2 years or so I've been having these fustrating symptoms that wont go away!! I'm basically lightheaded/foggy in the head 24/7.. some days/weeks/monts are worse than others, like I feel like I'm going to faint, and sometimes can hardly feel it.. its a horrible feeling as I'm sure many of you would know  when i get the bad lightheadedness I get tired, headaches, pressure in head, find it hard to concentrate and get confused easy (ie mix words up, find I have to think about what I have to say, etc). As well as this I sometimes get funny feelings in my left arm and cheek - this can range from tingling to just heavy or weak. I also sometimes get chest pains on my left site, kind of like a stabbing/ache.. sometimes I also feel a little short of breath, not bad but just a little, like i have asthma or something (which i dont) and it can happen when I'm just sitting watching tv. I'm fairly sure there is more but I cant think of anything else at the moment!

I've had an mri, countless ECG's and other heart tests, blood work, seen an ENT speacialist, as well as seeing a physiotherapist as I have a bad neck and back (which they thought might be related). Everything clear and doctors basically throw their hands up and say anxiety/stress. Sometimes I think this is just because they dont want to keep looking and its the easy answer.

From what I have read my symptoms can be similar to many anxiety symptoms but I'm not an anxious person! I have a great life, a great partner, family, fun job.. I have never felt anxious or stressed (well besides thinking I have something seriously wrong with me!), so i find it really hard to believe its anxiety, but I'm willing to look into it I suppose. I just want an answer!!!! I'd give anything to know i dont have anything life threatening and as horrible as I'm sure anxiety can be, if that was it I would be so happy to have an answer!

So can anyone tell me if it sounds like that might be it?? other than my symptoms I'm an active and healthy person and like to get out and enjoy myself, but when i have my bad lightheadedness it makes it very hard  even now i have it quite bad and dont even feel like i could get up and walk my dogs.

thanks for reading my long post! I would really appreciate any help or advice! oh and is there anything to do or take if it is anxiety to help the lightheadednes??

Thanks again!

[Lynders1968]

I have been on various anxiety meds and have seen a neurologist and nothing.  I hope you write back because I am so frustrated lately.

[Lynders1968]

Thank you for your post.  My problems started about a year and a half after we moved into the house so I am wondering if there is problems in the house.  I have been like this for 13 years although recently told I have a vestibular disorder with my left ear although previous testing showed nothing a few years back.  How did you discover the mold problems?  I have allergies pertaining to mold etc.  but I am still lightheaded and dizzy outside the house.  Who could I call to check the house for such things like paints etc.

[loimmarmar]

Hello,
   kjm85...Please allow me the opportunity right now to address EVERYONE on this thread so far, and yes future also. This is so important!
  
    I had ALL the symptoms you all speak of and  more and it was for years with meds, psycologists and drs looking at me as tho I was NUTS>>>>
   14 years later, I now know the causeations for the symptoms activating.   First was the long term natural gas leak in my home that caused the initial chemical induced injury, years later, mold was the factor in reactivating the symptoms. This has been a long struggle that God sustained me through.
   What if any exposure to....mold, chemicals, paints, chemical using factory within miles, fire within 100 miles, uses printer alot, asbestos, fiberglass insulation, musty building, what are each of you all, seperately, being exposed to?  
   One thing I know is that depending on substance......reactions can be immediate......however some symptoms need extended exposure times to activate, kinda like some of the sick buildings syndroms,
   In my case testing was fine except for size of red blood cells and tsh (thyroid) was all over the place.
   The reasons the antidepressents worked a bit was it changes the chemicals released by the brain, however your body is so busy trying to figure out how to fix what is going wrong, that in essense the meds just masks the reason for the misfunction.
   I do have a website that talks of those 14 years however I may not include it in this post. If you want to know more you can post backstage and I can provide it there.
   It is difficult and very time consuming to take the time to  concentrate enough to change all the things you do on a daily basis. Once you are this far down, you must take control of the situation, and I have found that that is the only way to conclude this, and do it day after day, and hour after hour.
   Changing the way you think and the way you eat, Hard work but I'm feeling better in waves....
   You all are NOT NUTS, cause if you are, that means I am too. Just ask me and I'll tell you if I am or not....NOT...Just off balance physically, now as to what caused it?
   Each of you, Please look back the full year prior to symptoms coming on.
   As long as bp and blood sugars are relatively normal, I would think on this greatly, as exposures can and do cause bi-polar and other psyc conditions to activate by getting inner chemicals out of wacke..
   If you have any thoughts, please keep us updated on you progress.
   As you go and think through your life, I hope you have a wonderful Blessed Day!!!     GOD BLESS!!!     loimmarmar

[Stacker313]

Hi there,
I was having similar feelings; light-headedness and headaches (like someone was pushing on my head). I saw a neurologist and had a VNG as well as other tests which I will get results for next week.  In the meantime, I've been seeing a chiropractor and he noticed that my next and back were extremely tight. In the 6 weeks I've been seeing him, I've noticed a big improvement. The headaches are much less often and the light-headedness even seems to be getting better.  He thinks that I may have had a pinch nerve or something in my neck because I carry all of my stress there.
I don't know if that's the answer, but I know for me, it's helped a lot. If you do decide to go, make sure you select one that you can trust - ask friends or family for a reference to one they go to and like.
Good luck and let us know how you're doing!

[turkee23]

i been having the same thing since feb 2011 and im not an anxious person either. after having all the test under the sun run everything was normal. thank god. now i just started seeing a therapist, and started taking zoloft and feel much better, i was REALLY against meds, but it has made a very big difference. it scared me, the meds, cause im only 25 so what am i supposed to do when i get prego  and will i have to take them for the rest of my life?....who knows, but yesterday was 4 weeks that i have been on these meds. and they have helped.

have they told you about taking any?

ps this is pretty weird but your user name is my initals and my birth year.....hmmmmm akward!!!

[jiujitsu4life]

I am constantly lightheaded.  When I stand up (which is normal), when I go for a walk, or when I do anything!! I have had ekg, blood, and going to see a neurologist.  I have been to the ER b/c I walways feel like im going to faint.  The dr thinks vertigo but I am not sure.  My thyroid was high then it was normal so my dr told me not to take thyroid medication.  Every dr has something different to say.  Now I think I have a tumor or some kind of cancer.  I feel that it is mentally and physically.  I feel that something physical is wrong with me and that is causing my anxiety to get worse.  It's getting to the point where I cant even do the things I want to do like going out and working is extremely difficult.  I force my self to go to the gym and train when I can but sometimes it is too much to bear with this wierd feeling that I can not describe, which is dreamy, lightheaded, and anxcious.

[icyhot10]

Hi kjm85 and all

i know the frustration your feeling.  i have been suffering from this for about 10 months now (since april of last year).  like you i have had a myriad of symptoms...

light headedness/dizziness
headaches
feelings of vertigo
tingling/numbness
tremors
insomnia
hot/cold flashes
and digestive issues

some of my symptoms have improved while others remain.  i have been to a number of doctors and have had numerous tests.  for the most part everything has come back normal.  docs tell me anxiety.  its been very hard to accept that anxiety could cause this.  i still at times think there is something more serious that hasnt been detected.  the one thing that keeps me going is the fact that if after 10 months i havnt died then i just may make it  hehehehe.
get all your tests done, get second and third opinions if you have to.  do whatever it takes to put your mind at ease.  if it turns out to be anxiety, then you can start searching for the cause.  i am still looking for mine.

best of luck and God Bless

[shell1813]

You sound like you have very similar symptoms to me, they are horrible!!!! My symptoms seem to be in the head area. Pressure,like some1 squashing my head down feeling ov leaking liquid and tingling. Doctor says it is anxiety and referred me to a counsellor. Take care and hope this helps x

[weevy]

If you've had all those tests and nothing showed up, it certainly sounds very similar to anxiety symptoms. In my experience DISTRACT yourself, take the dogs out, notice the birds singing, smells, colours, tell yourself the symptoms although physical are not real, and not the cause of some serious illness and try to go about your day, dont worry about them cause that only gives them power. I get that lightheadedness and I think its due to me being so tense that my neck muscles cause the dizzy feeling and shallow breathing caused by being so on edge! Hope this helps, weevy